As a young girl in China, my mother’s American Dream included John Wayne and a white picket fence.
She never did get John Wayne or the white picket fence, but she’s not complaining. She and my father were able to raise and educate their four children in the US, her revised version of the American dream. Here are ten favorite versions of the picket fence:
Cape Cod Classic
Nantucket Cottage
Above: The archetypal cottage with a white picket fence: in Siasconset, Nantucket, it’s the prevailing theme. Photograph by Thisisbossi via Flickr.
John Derian’s Driveway
Modern Farmhouse
When Mill Valley, California-based architect Kelly Haegglund designed a modern farmhouse for her own family, she married contemporary and classic details: the house has a peaked roof, covered porches, and a picket fence.
Long Island Estate
At the edge of 13.5-acre Sagaponack Road property in Bridgehampton, on the east end of Long Island is an orchard bordered by a picket fence that blends into the landscape.
New England Tradition
Joseph Valentine designed a classic New England garden as modern extension of the house. “A garden is something you should feel that you are immersed in, not something you stand back and look at, like a painting,” he says.
Dorset, England
In southern England, the symmetry of a double garden gate (purchased for £30 at an agricultural supplies store and reinforced with chicken wire); twin cottage chimneys in the distance; and a mown grass path bisecting a pair of garden beds planted with a mix of flowers (including staked dahlias, irises, and cosmos) and edibles.
Keep reading:
- Garden Visit: Julie’s Soothing Palette of Green and White in Cape Town.
- For more picket fences, see Hardscaping 101: Picket Fences.
Finally, learn how to successfully design a fence for any landscape or garden project with our Hardscaping 101: Fences & Gates guide.
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